Aidan’s Gallery: five years ten months old

Aidan is now five years and ten months old! We've done lots of travelling this month, mostly with Grandma and Grandpa.

We started out with our long-planned trip to the South Island (the first time Aidan, Megan and Carolyn had ever been there) with a flight from Auckland to Queenstown. We had a fantastic flight down. The views were incredible - clear blue skies meant we could see Wanganui from north of Mount Taranaki, Farewell Spit on Cook Strait, and the stunning Southern Alps. We'd printed maps for the kids so that they could work out what they were seeing, and they were really impressed :-).

We were staying in Albert Town, in a bach with Grandma and Grandpa, and had some really fun times. The kids went with G&G for a trip on the Earnslaw (a twin screw steam ship) on Lake Wakatipu (Queenstown), and visited a working sheep farm. We managed a couple of longish walks - the first, a nice flat walk (the Outlet Track) along the shores of Lake Wanaka; and the second, up Mount Iron (an approximately forty-five minute ascent). Both kids impressed us with their stamina (and lack of whinging!).

We visited Puzzling World and the Transport Museum in Wanaka, and even managed a brief visit to a vineyard! After a lovely week in Wanaka, we headed off. The recent snowfall on the high mountains and the clarity and sunshine meant we had the most stunning views of Mount Cook en route to Timaru. We spent one night there, enjoying a lovely late-afternoon walk along the boardwalk at the beach. From there we went on to Christchurch - a trip which took longer than we anticipated, but we still managed to find time for a tram ride, a visit to the Cathedral, and a play in the park!

We flew home on Easter Saturday, while Grandma and Grandpa came up to Auckland overland (and sea) and joined us on Easter Monday. On the Tuesday, leaving Daddy working at home for a couple of days, the rest of us headed north to Coopers Beach (Doubtless Bay). We had a lovely bach there right by the beach, and spent a quiet couple of days enjoying the beach and the surrounding area. One day we drove down to Paihia (Bay of Islands), and took a cruise out to see the Hole in the Rock. This boat trip included one of the best dolphin-watching experiences we've ever had - a large pod of bottle-nosed dolphins playing and leaping out of the water very close to our boat.

Daddy joined us for a few days, and we went up to the very north of New Zealand, to Te Rerenga Wairua / Cape Reinga - a very special place. Back in Auckland, we had a few days to show Grandma and Grandpa Aidan's school, and Megan's kindy, and go to the Maritime Museum, before the time came to take them back to the airport. After saying goodbye, we spent some time watching the aeroplanes taking off and landing from the SkyDeck at the airport - we were even able to spot Grandma and Grandpa's aeroplane which Aidan in particular was fascinated by!

Geography field trip over, we were rapidly back into the normal swing of things, with school and kindy restarting after the school holidays. It was good to spend some time with friends again (including a brief visit from Steve, when he was in Auckland overnight). We also went for a walk along Mission Bay one extremely wild evening - it was high tide, and so windy that there were some waves so high that they splashed onto the road! We got very wet that walk (particularly Daddy who ran back to get the car)!

We had some tamer pursuits: making playdough from scratch; going to KraftBomb (and sampling some of NZCQ's delicious cupcakes!); and going to Kelly Tarlton's Antartic Encounter and Underwater World, where the kids loved going on the Snow Cat to see the penguins, and watching feeding time for the stingrays (this was quite an experience - the rays were like playful puppies jumping up on the keeper as she hand-fed them!).

Aidan's been struggling a bit with his hearing recently (again :-( ), resulting in still another referral on to ENT. He's been given a decongestant nasal spray, which seems to be helping. Grow faster, eustachian tubes!

Towards the end of this month, for no discernible reason, Mummy woke up one morning with a sore elbow. None of us dreamt that by the next evening she would be admitted to hospital with cellulitis - an infection of the tissue underneath the skin. Despite regular doses of IV antibiotics the infection continued to spread down her arm, and she ended up in hospital for five nights! This had a considerable impact on both kids - none of them are used to Mummy being unwell, let alone away from home. Neither have they ever had to visit anyone in hospital - they came up every afternoon. We were very grateful for the wonderful support we had from Nan and Grandad during this time, who helped keep the house in order and looked after the kids every evening to allow Daddy to visit Mummy.

For more photos see Megan's three years seven months page.

Click on any image to see a larger version; use your browser's ‘Back’ button to return.